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Pay Raises in ’09: Revised Lower?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR CEO Bob Brady would like to know whether employers are backing off of pay raises planned for next year. Please take our very brief survey and see the results next week. Economic uncertainty Until quite recently, employers were saying that pay raises would be inching upwards. Now, […]

Investigation Complete? Don’t Relax Yet–There’s Work to Be Done

Think you have completed your investigation because you’ve interviewed your witnesses? Not so fast–there’s a lot more to do. Attorney Walter Stella, a partner in the San Francisco-based law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, talked about the pitfalls of investigations during a SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. After the […]

A Year in Review: Resources for Humans Top Five Reviews

Last October, we launched Resources for Humans: A Review of the Best Books for HR. So this week, we are taking a look back at the five most popular reviews. We hope you have enjoyed this first year and found many helpful books. We look forward to bringing you another year full of great reading. […]

Can Employees ‘Plead the Fifth’? — And Other Investigation Challenges

Every HR manager has to do investigations, and it’s hard to get it right–interview too few witnesses, and you’re negligent; interview too many, and you’re invading privacy and violating confidentiality.   Who’s waiting to pick apart your investigation? Your employee’s attorney will question the approach you took at every step along the way, says attorney Walter […]

Despite Election, Global Financial Crisis, Everything Stable for Employers in Canada

by Brian Smeenk Employers with operations in Canada may well ask: “What’s going on up there? What will Canada’s federal election mean for business? How is the world financial crisis playing out there?” It would appear that the most accurate answer to these questions, at this time at least, would be a typically understated Canadian […]

Selling Safety to the C-Suite

To run an effective safety program, you need to be an enthusiastic booster of safety.  However, enthusiasm won’t win over management—you need to make the business case for safety as well. Management will readily agree that safety is important, and they know that they have a moral–and legal–obligation to maintain a safe workplace.  But sometimes […]

BusinessWeek’s Bestseller List

BusinessWeek ranks business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary. 1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? Do you feel that you are both a person who gets […]

When Safety Lands on HR’s Desk

Is safety part of your portfolio yet? In more and more organizations, HR is taking over safety management. Fortunately, HR managers make great safety managers! In fact (don’t tell the safety people), they often do a better job than technical safety experts do. Why are HR managers so good at safety? Technical safety expertise is […]

From Stu to Sue: Transgender Issues at Work

Do you have a policy related to employees who’ve had sex changes? If not, you should consider it, says John Putzier. “Employers are increasingly adopting nondiscrimination policies pertaining to what are now being called GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) workers, who generally have had no legal protection from being fired if they express a […]